Photo Courtesy Vitaliy Kalyniuk/Flickr
AU student Trey Yingst is currently in Ukraine to report on upcoming elections and ongoing violence. The Eagle will be posting daily correspondence. Click here for the next update.
Trey Yingst, a rising junior in the School of Communications, is traveling to Ukraine to report on the ongoing unrest in the country on behalf of independent media group News2share.com.
Despite escalating violence in the eastern half of the country, Ukraine will hold presidential elections on May 25. Elections were called after former President Viktor Yanukovich was ousted by the Ukrainian parliament in late February.
Since February, violence has broken out across Eastern Ukraine between Pro-Ukrainian forces and separatists who desire closer ties with Russia. Russia has occupied Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and has stationed its armed forces close to Ukraine’s borders.
Amidst increasingly frequent and deadly clashes, there are fears that separatist forces may attempt to disrupt the May 25 elections.
Yingst will arrive in Kiev on May 21 and will be in Ukraine through May 28.
According to News2share co-founder, producer and SOC student Ford Fischer, Yingst will be talking to Ukrainians about their experiences with the recent violence and their thoughts on where their nation should head next.
“Trey and I co-founded and continue to be producers of News2share.com because we’re passionate about telling stories,” he said. “We believe that this next week is our chance to take it to the next level.”
The Eagle will be posting video updates from Yingst below. Check back for daily correspondence from Yingst and News2share.
Follow Yingst’s coverage here:
AU Student in Ukraine, Day 2: Kiev remains on edge after February clashes
AU Student in Ukraine, Day 4 and 5: Ukrainian presidential candidate blames Kiev for deaths in east
AU Student in Ukraine: Election Day
Full disclosure: The Eagle collaborates with News2share to provide video coverage of local and AU events.
